Adjustable buffer and antirattler for doors.



SHB. ATWOOD.

ADJUSTABLE BUFFER AND ANTIRATTLER FOR DOORS.

APPLICATION HLED NOV-7.19m.

Patented June 18, 1918.

SETH B. ATWOOD, 0F ROCKFORD, ILLIN 01$.

ADJUSTABLE AND ANTIBATTLER FOR DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 18,1918.

Application filed November 17, 1916. Serial No. 131,847.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SETH B. A'rwoon, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Rockford, in the county of Winnebago and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Buffers and Antirattlers for Doors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bufi'ers operable between a door and its casing or jamb to cushion the closing impact of the door and also to prevent rattling or vibration thereof when closed and locked, and has more particular reference to the application of such a buffer to automobile and other vehicle doors.

It is common practice to equip doors or door jambs of automobiles with one or more rubber or combined rubber and metallic,

bufl'ers merely set in a rigid container or att'achin plate, but in the course of usage the fix y positioned buffer becomes ineffective and entirely useless for the purpose for which it was provided, because of wear of the buffer and relative displacement of the same in the door due to vibration and strains incidental to travel. S rin -cushioned buffers have also been emp oye inefl'ectual in that a spring of a tension su1t able for a bufier is too weak to prevent rattling of a door in a ractical manner. In the instances that a justable bufi'ers have been provided,I have found that they have not been commercially practical and desirable because of objections to their construction, viz: that they have been too expensive to manufacture, that the buffer is not maintained in proper relative relation to its 00- operating parts, that in some lnstances the adjusting element projects through the casing or door to the outer side thereof, forming a rotuberance and marring the design of the y, and for other reasons known to automobile builders.

The primary object, therefore, of my 1nvention is to provide an improved buffer and anti-rattler attachment for doors especially adapted for use on automobiles and vehicles, to overcome the objectlonable features mentioned and to-practically and eifectually serve the purposes'for which such bufl'ers'and anti-rattlers are designed.

but have been In furtherance of this purpose, I preferably employ a solid rubber or similar .resilient materialbufier and adj ustably secure the same rigidly in an attaching plate or casing in a novel manner with the view to permittlng adjustment of the buffer to greater or less projected positions in accordance with requirements, and to make such adjustments from apoint readily accessible within. the.

sides of the door or its casing so that the adustin element does not mar the outer design t ereof.

Other objects and attendant advantages W111 be apparent as the invention becomes better understood by reference to the following specification when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a ortion of the door casing of anautomobile ody in the jamb of which is secured a buffer embodylng my improvements;

Figs. 2 and 3 are face and side views, respectively, of the bufi'er detached from the door jamb;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view centrally through the buffer, showingits relation to a door and its casing; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are detail-views showin the shapeof the blanks which in this em odiment constitute the bufi'er casing.

In the present instance I have for purposes of illustration shown my improve ments embodied in a buffer attached to the door jamb of an automobile body and it should be understood that the improvements might be otherwise applied, or attached to.

the door. It might also be mentioned that in practice a pair of buffers are used for each door, one being positioned adjacent to the top and the otherthe bottom of the door, or

any number of bufl'ers may be employed as conditions may require.

The casing or attaching plate carrying the bufl'er and providing a means of attachment to the casing or .door as the case may be, may be in the form of a plate shown in blank in'Fig. 5 and consists of portions 7 and 8, the latter of which is provlded with a rectangular bufi'er opening 9 and is bent at right angles to the portion 7 in conformity with the edge or corner of a door. jamb in which the plate is to be fitted. An additional casing portion is provided for forming with the plate mentioned a housing to incase the greater portion of the buifer and for other purposes as will be presently apparent. This casing portion ma be formed integrally with or separate rom the. plate, and in the latter instance, may be pressed from the metal face of a door or door jamb. In the present instance, however, it is shown separate from the plate and shaped as shown in Fig. 6, in the form of a body 11 having opposed sides 12 adapted to be bent as on the dotted lines, to form the top and bottom walls of the bufier housing and provided respectively with reduced extensions 13 adapted to fit in narrow slots 14.- in the plate portion 7 and riveted therein, and an end ortion 15 forming the end of the casing. This merely shows one simple and practical manner of forming the buffer casing and the invention is in no way limited to this particular construction, since the casing may be made in various ways. The casing may also be suitably set in and secured to a door jamb or a door, and in the drawing it is shown as secured in a door jamb 16 of the door casing of an automobile body and secured thereto by means of wood screws 17, or any suitable means may be employed for the purpose.

The buffer, ,or resilient material, preferably of a suitable grade of rubber, is in the form of a block designated by reference character 18. The buffer block, opening 9, and housing 11 are preferably shaped so that the buifer fits snugly within said hous-- ing, rojectin through said opening and is slida le lengt wise therethrough so as to roject a greater or less distance from the ihce of the attachin plate. It will be noted, however, that in t e present instance the housing 11 is shaped to inclose an additional part 19 in the form of a fiat nut which lies intermediate the Wall 11 and buffer and is confined against edgewise movement by the contiguous walls of the casing. When the nut is drawn toward the side 7 of the casing by means of a screw the bufier block will be rigidly clamped to the casing and firmly held in fixed connection therewith and against displacement in any direction. A screw employed for this purpose, designated by reference character 21,

extends through an opening 22 in the casing portion 7, passes through an elongated slot 23 in the bufier block, parallel with the direction with which said bufier block is movablethrough the opening 9, and is threadedly engaged with the nut 19, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The face of the nut 19 engaging the bufier block may be knurled so as to more firmly grasp and hold" the same in a set position. From the foregoing naeaaaa position of the bufi'er.

It will be noted that the construction affords a means wherein the adjustable element is located within the side walls of the door and its casing so that the bufler and its cooperating parts are entirely concealed when the door is closed and do not in any Way mar the design or form any facial obstruction to an automobile. Furthermore, it

is a comparatively simple matter to make 1 the adjustment and it is a very important matter to adjust the bufi'er block from time to. time as the same becomes worn or the door and its casing becomes slightly displaced because of strains to which theyare subjected durin usage. .Otherwise it is found that the cor when locked. will soon rattle and be a source of annoyance. By providing a buffer block of resilient material adjustably mounted in a casin or attaching plate so as to be adjusta 1e and providing means for rigidly securin the ufi'er block in any of its ad usted posltions by a clamping action, a very simple and inexpensive structure is obtained and one which very efi'ectually and satisfactorily meets the practical requirements of a device of this character.

While I have shown one particular embodiment of my improvements, it should be understood that various changes and modifications might be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A bufier and anti-rattler attachment for doors comprising an attaching late having an opening therein, a bufier sli ably movable throu b said openin and having an elongated s ot substantia y parallel in the plane-with which the buffer is movable, a screw passing through said slot and associated with the attaching plate, and a part associated with the screw. and so arranged with respect to the buifer as to clamp the same rigidly to the attaching plate by turning the screw.

2. A bufier and anti-rattler for doors comprising a door or door jamb casing shaped to receive a bufier member, one end of which is adapted to project from the casing, anelastically yielda le bufier member posimas ers tioned in said casing and movable relatively thereto toproject more'or less therefrom, the buffer member having an elongated slot coincident with its plane of movement, a 5 screw-threaded member passing through said slot, and a, member associated with the screw-threaded member and the bufier memher and adapted upon tin'nin of the screw member to tighten or loosen te bufier memher in the casm in any adjusted position of 10 the bnfier mem er therein.

SETH B. ATWOOD. 

